DEADLY

03.20.12

At least 39 Killed in Iraq Blasts

AFP / Getty Images

At least 39 people were killed and 188 injured in a series of car bombings throughout Iraq on Tuesday, hospital sources told MSNBC. The deadliest attack occurred in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Kerbala, where a health-department spokesman said 13 were killed and 48 people were injured in two explosions. Other blasts occurred in the northern city of Kirkuk, where a car bomb exploded near police headquarters and killed seven and wounded 30, and Baghdad, where a suicide car bomber killed three and wounded 21. The violence comes just one week before the Arab League summit in Baghdad, the first time Iraq will host the event in more than 20 years—and the first since the withdrawal of U.S. troops in December. But the deadly car bombs served as a reminder of the past: Tuesday marks the ninth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion.